Device for operating the trigger and the locking mechanism of a gun



March i, 1938. LEMPEREUR 2,110,989

DEVICE FOR OPERATING THE TRIGGER AND THE LOCKING MECHANISM OF A GUN Filed Oct. 8, 1936 UNITED STTES ATET FHQE DEVICE FOR AND GUN OPERATING THE. THE LOOKING MECHANISM OF TRIGGER A Maurice Lempereur, Brussels, Belgium, assignor to Servo-Frein Dewandre Societe Anonyme,

Liege, Belgium Application October 8,

1936, Serial No. 104,720

In France October 1'7, 1935 6 Claims.

My invention relates to apparatus designed to operate fire arms by means of motor fluid and is 'more particularly concerned with a pneumatic device for operating the trigger and the locking mechanism of an automatic quick firing gun.

My invention consists in designing a pneumatic operating device which may be readily applied to an automatic quick firing gun, and in which the pneumatic drive mechanism actuating the trigger operating member may be locked in the nonfiring position, the arrangement of parts being such that, when the'said device is being mounted in position, the locking system of the said drive mechanism may be displaced angularly about the casing of the said drive mechanism so as to take any suitable position, whatever be the position of the said casing after the latter has been secured onto a support provided at the breech of the gun.

One preferred embodiment of the device according to my invention will be hereinafter described with reference to the diagrammatical drawing in which:-

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the device;

,Fig. 2 is a plan view, partly in section, of the latter;

v 3 is a side view of the device.

In the drawing, 5 indicates the casing or body of the device, which is secured to an extension 6 of the breech l of an automatic quick firing gun of a known type.

Within a cylinder 8 provided at the lower part of the said body there is slidably mounted a piston 9 whose piston rod 50 is adapted to reciprocate with slight friction in an orifice l l formed in a-partition I2 provided in the body 5 at the top of the cylinder 8 and forming therein a fluid tight chamber I3 which communicates laterally, through a duct It, with a source of pneumatic fluid controlled by a suitable distributor (not shown).

The piston rod it has a portion of increased diameter at I5, provided with a collar 16 adapted to reciprocate with slight frictional contact in a cylindrical guide i7 formed as a coaxial extension of the cylinder 8 and having lodged therein a spring 18 the one end of which bears against the collar 16, while the other end of the spring bears against a shoulder ii on the partition iii.

In an axial bore 20 formed over a portion of length of the rod it there is engaged the trigger 1 pull rod 2! of the gun. The said pull rod operates the trigger pawl a adapted to engage the catch 19 providedon the striker c of the gun. The latter members a, b and c, which pertain to the gun mechanism, do not make part of the invention and have merely been shown schematically in order to make understood easily the working of the device according to the invention. The pull rod PM is mounted for sliding motion in the bore 20, said motion being limited by means of a key 22 fitted in a transverse orifice of suitable shape formed. in the piston rod it, said key extending across a slot 23 provided in the pull rod 2|.

A spring 24, one end of which bears against the bottom of the bore 253 and the other end of which bears against the lower end of the pull rod 2!, normally acts to hold the latter in its raised position.

An opening 25 is formed laterally in the wall of the bore 20 to provide an exit for the air forced out as a result of the motion of the pull rod 2!.

A cylinder 25 is supported laterally of the body 5 by means of a bridle 27! or the like, and may be secured in any suitable angular position relative to the axis of the said body by means of bolts 28, 23 (Fig. 2).

A double acting piston 3b is reciprocally mounted in the said cylinder 26, the opposite end faces of the said piston forming the movable Walls of two fluid tight chambers 3 l-32, which communicate through ducts 33-34, respectively, with distributors connected with a source of compressed fluid (the distributors and the source being not shown).

The central portion of the piston is provided with a lateral radially extending pivot pin 35 protruding through a slot 36 formed in the wall of the cylinder 26.

A link 31 has one of its ends pivoted to the of the guns breech to provide a passage for the conventional manually operable locking bolt;

The locking is effected by the bolt ll engaging a notch at out into the piston rod i t, which notch is normally positioned just opposite the said bolt p when the trigger operating mechanism is in its nonfire position.

Further, the piston 30 is adapted to be locked in either extreme position by means of a ball or similar locking device 46 biased by a spring and adapted to engage either notch 47, 48 formed in the cylindrical surface of the said piston.

The operation of the device according to my invention is as follows:--

With the parts disposed as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the device is in the nonfire position. The rod H3 and the piston 9 are held in their raised position owing to the action of spring 18, while the bolt 42 is engaged in the notch 44 of the said rod II). In this position the various admission ducts for the compressed fluid are connected with the atmosphere by means of their respective distributors.

When the gun is to be put in action, the operator first of all actuates the distributor controlling the duct 34, which duct may be connected with the pneumatic cocking device of the gun. The actuation of the distributor results in cutting the connection between the duct 32 and the atmosphere and in establishing the pressure in the said duct 34 and the chamber 32.

Under the action of the compressed fluid the piston 30 moves downward (when viewing Fig. 2) and retracts the bolt 32 from the notch 43. The operator then cuts cfi the action of the compressed .air and restores the communication between the chamber 32 and the atmosphere, the piston 30 remaining locked in the new position due to the locking device 46 which is hence engaged in the notch 48. The last described operations are thus efieotive in disengaging the bolt 32 and in simultaneously cocking the gun.

To put the gun in action, all that need be done still is to operate in proper time the distributor controlling the duct M, which distributor, after having cut the connection between the chamber l3 and the atmosphere, puts said chamber in communication with the source of compressed air.

The piston 9 and the piston rod l0 move down- Ward (when viewing Fig. 1) under the action of the compressed fluid and against the resilient tension of the spring l8. While moving, the piston rod ill takes with it, by means of the key 22, the trigger pull rod 21 which in turn disengages the trigger pawl a from the catch 2). The striker c is thus freed, and the various parts of the gun will remain in the firing position as long as the piston 9 will be subjected to the action of compressed fluid.

To cease fire, all that need be done is to shut off the compressed fluid from the chamber 13 and to restore the connection between the latter and the atmosphere.

Under the action of the spring N3, the piston 9, the piston rod it and the trigger pull rod 2| return to their nonfire position, and the catch 7) of the striker a, during the recoil movement of the latter, will cause the trigger pawl a and the trigger pull rod 2| to recede, the pull rod 2! being capable of a limited resilient sliding motion in the longitudinal direction owing to the slot 23 and the spring 24. When the catch b has moved a sufiicient distance rearward, the pawl a. and the pull rod 21, under the action of the spring 24, immediately return to the position in which the catch is again engaged by the said pawl, the striker being thus arrested in the cocked position.

As long as the trigger operating mechanism is unlocked, the operator may at any time reset the gun in action by actuating the distributor of the duct I4.

To hold the trigger drive mechanism in the position of rest when no firing takes place, the

operator has to actuate the distributor controlling the duct 33. Under the action of the compressed air, the piston 30 will be forced to move (upwardly, when viewing Fig. 2) so that the bolt 42 will engage the notch 44. After the piston 30 has been locked in the new position by the locking device 46, the operator will put the chamber 3| in communication with the atmosphere by means of the distributor controlling the duct 33.

What I claim is:-

1. In a pneumatic mechanism for operating the trigger mechanism of a fire arm, a member operating the trigger mechanism, manually operated pneumatic means for operating said member, locking means for said member, manually operated pneumatic means for operating said locking means and a yieldable locking means for locking said last named pneumatic means in a trigger rod attached to said pawl, a casing secured to the gun, a member connected with limited longitudinal motion to said trigger rod and slidable in said casing, resilient means pressing said trigger rod toward said latch, a piston connected to said member mounted in said casing,

means for putting one side of said piston in communication alternately with a source of pneumatic pressure to move said piston and with the atmosphere, spring means acting upon said member opposing the action of said piston under the influence of the pneumatic pressure, and means pneumatically operated to lock said member in the position in which the pawl engages the latch and thereby holds the striker in cocked position.

3. In a pneumatic device for operating the trigger mechanism of afire arm, a member connected to and actuating said trigger, pneumatic means for operating said member to actuate said trigger, resilient means tending to hold said trigger in non-firing position, said member having a notch therein, a bolt engaging in said notch to hold said member locked in the cooked position, a double acting pneumatic motor for alternately moving said bolt to and from its engaging position.

4. The device as claimed in claim 3 having yielding means for locking said pneumatic motor in either position.

5. In a pneumatic device for operating the trigger mechanism of a fire arm, a member connected to and actuating said trigger, pneumatic means for operating said member to actuate said trigger, resilient means tending to hold said trigger in non-firing position, said member having a notch therein, a bolt adapted to engage said notch when said mechanism is in non-firing position, a cylinder attached to said casing, a piston in said cylinder, means operatively connecting said piston to said bolt, means for alternately. admitting compressed air to and releasing it from either side of said piston, two notches in the cylindrical surface of said piston and resilient means in said cylinder walls to yieldingly hold said piston in its position for holding the bolt.

driving mechanism for operating said control- 7 ing means being adjustably mounted on said mechanism operating the control member Whereby said bolt operating mechanism may be angularly displaced above the said first mechanism to occupy the proper position for actuating the 5 bolt MAURICE LEMPEREUR. 

